Star quest

something to worry about for a while."
    "But what did you do to it?"
    "We put it eight hundred miles up the coast!"
    "What were you
trying
to do with it?" Tohm asked exasperatedly.
    "Exchange it boy, transfer it. Oh, we had the Fringe all shook, let me tell you. For a moment there, you could have transferred the whole damned universe through. But we weren't fast enough. Besides, I've discovered you can't hold the Fringe and transfer at the same time."
    "I don't understand."
    "What do you mean?"
    "I come from a primitive world, remember. I don't even know what the Fringe is."
    "It's the quasi-reality—"
    "Between the realities," Tohm finished.
    "There, see, you know."
    "I know how to say it, but I don't know what it means."
    "Well," Hunk said, crossing his tentacles in consternation, "I'll be damned! I thought everyone knew."
    "I don't. Everyone knows but me."
    Hunk moaned, rolled around a bit. "Look, for eight centuries the Romaghins and Setessins have been fighting wars. The inhabited galaxy has not been able to live in peace, for even the innocent, neutral planets are forced into the game sooner or later. We Muties are trying to rid the universe of the Romaghins and Setessins. Without them, the galaxy would be better off. We Muties might even be able to have citizenship and pensions. We might even be able to walk the streets without being shot on sight."
    "You're the good guys."
    "Yeah. You could say that." Hunk crept to the front of the cage, pressed against the bars. "Look, the old one-legger who runs this ship—"
    "Captain Hazabob."
    "That's him. Well, he located our party along the beach where we were hiding. He killed the others and took me captive. I'm sort of a wanted person aside from being a Mutie. They caught us just after we had dropped the city and were still a little groggy. They plan to string me up in the public square and have a gala celebration. Could you get me out of here?"
    "I don't know. I don't see how. I can't jeopardize everything. I have to get to the city."
    Hunk moved around in the cage, stumbling over his own snaking arms that dragged him about clumsily. "I know where the city is. I could guide you. What was this girl's name again?"
    "Tarnilee."
    "Suppose, when we get to Cap Five, I help you find your Tarnilee?"
    Tohm stared into the gray eyes. They appeared sincere. "What could you do to help? I mean—"
    "There is a Mutie underground nearly everywhere. We evacuated the city when we tried to transfer it, hut by the time we reach there, the Old Man will have the remainder of our cell, who didn't accompany the transfer group, back in business."
    "Old Man?"
    "Yeah. We have a chief."
    "And this entire underground will help me?"
    "I guarantee it. Look, I discovered something important in the attempt we made back there. We shouldn't try to hold the Fringe and lift the city too. Strangely enough, it's easier to transfer large bulk instead of bits and pieces. We have to transfer all the universe
except
the Romaghins and Setessins. Just the reverse of what we've been doing. It was a moment of revelation. May-he the others saw it too, but the others are dead. I'm the only one with the theory, and I have to get it back."
    "I don't understand a thing you're saying."
    "Transferring ninety-nine point nine percent of the universe would be easy, for the bulk would serve to hold the Fringe without our aid once the process was begun. We lift and the stuff goes through slick as all Hell. But never mind. Will you help?"
    "You promise me Tarnilee?"
    "I promise you a good chance of finding her, nothing more."
    Tohm thought a moment. "Fair enough."
    He unlatched the cage by using a crowbar from the tool rack to twist the sturdy lock apart. Hunk directed the carrying of himself. He could move only at a crawl by himself. Tohm set the Mutie on his shoulder and watched while the thin tentacles laced themselves under his arm and across his chest. He now had two heads.
    "I have a flybelt," Tohm said. "We'll coast to the city from here, follow the shoreline until we hit it."
    "You're in charge now," Hunk said.
    They walked back to the rent in the wall, stepped through into the guest rooms.
    "Going somewhere, Mr. Tohm?" Hazabob asked, standing in the doorway.

Chapter Seven
    "I SEE," Hazabob said to Jake, who stood next to him, "that we have a pervert amongst us."
    Jake was scowling.
    "Perverts are the only lands who are friendly with Muties, Mr. Tohm."
    "Look, so I'm a pervert," he ad-libbed, "so what?"
    Hazabob